A young Generation of Farmers-The social Network Farmers is what we Need for a food Secure Africa

Last week I read an article in the Capital FM news website http://tinyurl.com/youngfarmer  where, Lucy Kimani, head of the Kenya Coffee Producers' Association argues that "The average age of a Kenyan farmer is about 55 years and I think I'm being conservative. So without somebody to carry the mantle... the sector is under threat,"

To me this is a strong statement and a direct challenge to the Facebook Generation who have always been complaining that as the youth they are not given time to demonstrate their abilities

The Question I always ask myself is, are we up to the challenge? Can we as youth take up the Role of revolutionizing Agriculture? 
A growing number of young people are making a business through farming in Kenya and they are making millions out of it. They're opening up small farms dairy and horticulture farms. Take for example the story of Douglas Kanji, who at 26 has 57 Cows 30 of them producing milk. http://tinyurl.com/younggenerationfarmer. This is the change that we want our fellow youth to embrace-the Appreciation of Agriculture as a business and the only Major driver to Economic independence in Kenya and the Rest of Africa.

In Most parts of our continent I am sure we have so many youth who share similar stories to that of Mr. Kanji,  and face the same hurdles, one of the biggest being securing capital and getting the mentorship that is relevant for the kind of sub- sector they are in. But with the coming of social network the youth are finding creative ways to reach their goals and discuss the challenges they face in Sector.  

Successful solutions to difficult and hard to define problems in the agribusiness sector are unlikely to emerge from a single person or organization to tackle these problems we need to unite as a team because team work can do wonders. That is why I Laud the initiative by Pan African Agribusiness and Agro Industry Consortium PanAAC to start up a social network http://network.panaac.org/  purely dedicated to networking and sharing ideas in the Agribusiness field. This Network brings together experts in the Agribusiness Sector.
It is a network for all those who are passionate, ambitious, adventurous and committed to bringing the talent, Knowledge and resources as we share ideas and constructively come up with solutions we face in the Agribusiness sector and represents a movement in agriculture that hasn't been seen since the turn of the last century..
As a Facebook Generation farmer this is your  opportunity to utilize the knowledge, skills and technical knowhow to help the farmers solve their farming problems from production, transportation, processing, value addition, marketing agribusiness innovation and all related fields feel free to post a topic and contribute to discussions

I am urging all youth to join http://network.panaac.org/ and be part of a growing crop of beginner farmers, young people who are choosing to make a business of farming in Africa.